These words, in their simplicity, mean the world to me which is why they came to mind immediately when I created the design for the You are my Sunshine afghan CAL which will begin on May 17, 2018. But before I tell you more about the CAL, let me tell you a little about me.

My name is Christine Bumgarner and I am a child of the 1970’s. My mom was a hippy wannabe and my dad was a guard for the Thailand Royal Family during the Vietnam War. I was born in November of 1973 in East Los Angeles, California. My parents divorced when I was 3 and we eventually moved to Rancho Cucamonga, California whereI spent most of my childhood. At the age of 8, my mom remarried and we moved to Oregon. Having all my family still in California, every year I would board a plane the weekend after the school year ended and spend the entire summer in California.

I was taught how to crochet for the first time when I was 8 by my step-dad’s mom. She taught me basic stitches. I never really got into it more until I was well into my 30’s.

Life happened–I graduated from high school, joined the Navy, was discharged, and went to college. By the time I was 26, I had my nursing degree and was engaged to be married.

On September 23, 2000, I married my husband, Jason. We have been married for almost 18 years. We tried having a baby right away but with no luck. In all, I have had 4 miscarriages. All this changed in 2006 when we were blessed with our daughter, Sarah. She is the inspiration for the YAMS (You Are My Sunshine) Afghan.

Before bedtime each night, we would sit in the rocking chair, singing “You Are my Sunshine” until she fell fast asleep in my arms. This lullaby has been sung between her and I ever since. She is now almost 12 years old and I cannot imagine my life any other way than with her in it. She truly is my “Mini Me”.

Now I keep busy being a “soccer-homeschooling-business owning-community helping-crochet teaching-Mamma” and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I hope you’ll join us in creating this afghan. It would be perfect for a throw or a baby blanket. The CAL will be in 6 parts. Each week, a new part will be posted each Thursday right here on the CAL blog. The finished blanket will be 46 x 46 inches (117 x 117 cm) if you use worsted weight yarn. I used 5 skeins of “I Love this Yarn” using a 5.5 mm/I hook. I’m also excited to let you know that the CAL will be available in Swedish, Hebrew, Danish and Dutch as well as UK and US English.

I am having a hard time with round 24: where it says to hdc in cl, the cl is made up of 3 dc, do you do 3hc in the top or does it mean 1 hdc in the top of the cl–my count is off.
Thank you for your help.

I know the CAL has been finished for a few months, but is there someone who can help me with round 52? I have 127 dc per side. I have read the row over and over and it looks like it should be 127 although the pattern says 125.